The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in English language arts. The lowest is 46% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Fernan Stem Academy
Fernan STEM Academy is a regular public elementary school in the Coeur d'Alene School District, serving kindergarten through fifth grade on North 21st Street in Coeur d'Alene. The name signals a science, technology, engineering, and math orientation, and families may reasonably expect that focus to shape the school's identity. The data provided does not include program details, so parents looking to understand what the STEM designation means in daily practice would want to ask the school directly.
The school sits in a city that has remade itself over decades. Coeur d'Alene, the county seat of Kootenai County and the most populous city in North Idaho, sits on the north shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Publicly reported sources describe an economy that shifted from heavy reliance on logging toward a more balanced mix of manufacturing, retail, services, and tourism by the 1980s. The Coeur d'Alene Resort anchors the downtown waterfront, and Tubbs Hill provides a natural area adjacent to the core. The city has grown steadily since the 1990s, drawing residents from other western states, and forms part of a combined statistical area with Spokane, Washington, roughly thirty miles to the west. Interstate 90 runs through, and the outer residential areas are car-dependent, while the downtown waterfront is walkable. Fernan itself sits in a residential part of town rather than the tourist core.
State assessment results from the most recent year give a clear picture for the three tested grades. In English language arts, a majority of third, fourth, and fifth graders reached proficiency, with the strongest showing in fourth grade. Reading and writing appear to be an area of relative strength across the school. Math results tell a different story. Third grade started above the midpoint, but proficiency dipped in fourth grade and fell further in fifth grade, where fewer than two in five students demonstrated proficiency. Fifth-grade science results landed just below the midpoint. The decline in math from third to fifth grade is a pattern a parent may want to look into further with the school, particularly given the STEM name. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is unclear whether this represents a one-year dip or a sustained pattern. Average scale scores and participation rates were also not reported in the data provided.
The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic population and a modest share of students identifying as two or more races. About two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. IEP and English learner data were not available, which limits the picture of how the school serves students with specialized needs. No civil-rights data, discipline information, staffing figures, or attendance data were included, so those dimensions of school life remain undescribed here.
The housing market around Fernan is expensive by both state and national standards. Typical home values in the school's ZIP code run well above Idaho's statewide benchmark and roughly double the national figure. Rents are comparatively more moderate relative to local incomes, and renting costs substantially less per month than carrying a mortgage at current rates. For families considering buying into the attendance zone, the price-to-income ratio is high, reflecting the broader growth and demand that have shaped Coeur d'Alene over the past three decades. Home values have continued to appreciate year over year, and rents have risen at a gentler pace.
The district brief searched for recent parent-relevant changes in the Coeur d'Alene School District and found little of lasting impact to report. No specific strategic priorities or initiatives were surfaced. Fernan operates as part of a district whose schools are distributed across the city's residential neighborhoods rather than concentrated on a single campus, which means the school is embedded in the community it serves.
What the data supports is a school with solid reading outcomes, a math trajectory that softens in the upper elementary grades, and a name that implies a curricular focus the available data does not confirm or describe. Families drawn to the STEM designation and to life in a growing lakeside city will find a school with real strengths in literacy and an open question about math instruction that deserves a direct conversation with the principal or teachers before enrolling.
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